Ideas to help bring the weight in my pack down
Original post
Hi, I am looking for some ideas on bringing the weight of my pack down. Have recently finished a three night, four day tramp in the Nelson Lakes District and struggled which wasn't fair on my group. As well as working on my fitness I want to bring the weight of my pack down and make it more enjoyable not only for me but also the group I go with. It's probably more to do with equipment rather than food - but will be working on that too! Look forward to your replies and ideas, thanks! We go where there are huts if that makes any difference to your suggestions.
Whats your current equipment...
The easiest way to reduce weight is to replace your current gear with lighter alternatives.
Have replaced my polypros with merino, and that seems to have helped. Have realised now that every little bit adds up, and am even considering cutting my toothbrush down!
I think alot of it will come down to food - and am looking more towards dehydrated, but want some tasty meals. What are the back country meals like, or is it best to do your own?
As per other peoples comments start with your equipment then move onto the smaller items. I started with changing my pack, sleeping bag and tent. My partner and i are currently have a base pack weight of 5-6kg then add food water and fuel.
Two good websites for packs are
www.golite.com
www.ula-equipment.com
Both these sites have 60 litre packs which weigh 1 kg and the other 750 grams.
Happy tramping
I'm going through the same process. If tents are a secondary shelter for you, then you may find something here. http://www.tarptent.com/ I like the Moment. At 810gm, it ticks all the boxes for me - about NZ$350 landed.
This site may also provide some ideas. http://www.tramplight.co.nz/ Quite coincidentally it has a titanium spork! And the titanium stove... that will HAVE to be in my pack soon.
If I may hijack the thread a little, what are the current thoughts on light weight mats?
(PS: don't feel too bad mejules - my first pack for an overnighter in Nelson Lakes was 15kg! :) I learned quickly and donated some items to the hut before returning)
Light weight sleeping mats?
For years I did not bring a mat to save weight and bulk, but my sleep suffered. Now I take a nice comfy mat which gives me a good night sleep. I feel the extra comfort is worth the increase in weight :)
This is a guess that may be irrelevant, but are you sure it's entirely the weight and not something like the harness fitting or adjustment of your pack? Cutting weight helps, but if your pack's spending all day pulling on the wrong parts of your body, it can cause many more problems than it needs to and give the impression that the load's just too heavy, and you may be surprised at the effects of some small adjustments.
Hi Mejules
Each trip I do I find it quite helpful when I get back to go through the items I took and made a list to see if there was anything I didnt use (with the exception of emergency equipment of course).
I've changed little things like my set of 3 compact cooking pots, now I only take one of the pots as I had no use for the other two smaller ones.
Ive also found that if I buy food with a group of people and then divvy it up that I end up carrying a lot more unnecessary food that everyone else has brought. Now I insist on buying and carrying my own, it made a huge difference ... but I still share my goodies :-)
I hope you enjoyed Nelson Lakes, its a stunning circuit!
Think it's more to do with the weight, rather than the pack as mine was definately the heaviest pack on the recent trip. Thanks for the ideas, am hoping to get away again for an overnighter soon to see the difference (but gotta remember that it's just a days food and not three :-))
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| Forum | Beginners and newbies |
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| Started by | mejules |
| On | 27 November 2009 |
| Replies | 26 |
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